Sports Bar News
Vegas-style Sportsbook sports bar takes a gamble on Dallas' Bishop Arts
Wings at Sportsbook in Oak Cliff.
Dallas' Bishop Arts has restaurants, bars, theaters, and shops — and now it has an upscale sports bar. Called Sportsbook, it's a new concept in the former Krio space at 233 W. 7th St., now serving sandwiches, wings, beer, and sports on TV.
Sportsbook was founded in 2024 with a mission to provide a premier sports viewing experience with a diverse menu in a nicely-appointed environment. Features include 24 high-definition TVs — 17 inside and 7 outside — and their signature motif: a huge sports ticker displaying the latest scores and stats.
The new hangout is from Dan Bui and Connie Cheng, the same team behind Krio, which closed in October 2023.
"We hoped Krio would last a long time but between the increase in food costs and difficulty in staffing, it was difficult to stay in business," Bui says. "I didn't see anything like this in Bishop Arts, and was excited about the idea of opening our first sports bar."
Their menu includes wings, mini corn dogs from Nathan's, plus burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, a BLT, patty melt, a taco salad and a Cobb. Fried appetizers, such as fried pickles and fried caulifower, are battered with rice flour.
"We use rice flour to make those dishes gluten-free, and using rice flour also gives a crispier result — it's a little lighter and airier, and the crust holds up better," he says.
Pretty much everything is priced between $11 and $15.
There's a full-service bar, with cocktails, frozen drinks, and non-alcoholic mocktails, and kids are welcome until 6 pm daily. Beers are $5 to $6, and cocktails such as a spritz with Greenhouse Artisan Gin, limoncello, prosecco, and Topo Chico are all $14 to $16.
Bui is a native of Houston who moved to Dallas to attend UTD, when he bartended at venues like Kismet, Candleroom, and Ghost Bar, befoe moving into management roles at Clear UltraLounge, The Bank, and Social House. In 2012, he launched his entrepreneurial journey with Sisu and later expanded his portfolio with Krio restaurant and the Atlas cocktail bars (in Bishop Arts and Fort Worth).
Wikipedia says that a sportsbook is a place where a gambler can wager on sports. They're very big in Las Vegas.
"With Mark Cuban selling a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to Las Vegas casino owner Miriam Adelson, there's a lot of talk now in Dallas about legalized gambling, and we're playing on that theme of betting," Bui says. "You should see the huge ticker we installed, showing all the statistics on betting —it's very Vegas."
Guy Fieri in Dallas on December 7.
Santo Spirits
Lawry's the Prime Rib, RIPLawry's